Baucus gave girlfriend $14K raise

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, gave a nearly $14,000 pay raise to a female staffer in 2008, at the time he was becoming romantically involved with her, and later that year took her on a taxpayer-funded trip to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, though foreign policy was not her specialty.

Late last Friday, Baucus acknowledged his relationship with Melodee Hanes, whom he nominated for the job of U.S. attorney in Montana, after it was first reported on the website MainJustice.com. But he said that Hanes withdrew from consideration for the job when the relationship became more serious. The following day, Baucus dismissed calls for an ethics investigation, saying, “I went out of my way to be up and up.”

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Since his announcement, more details of the relationship have emerged, raising questions about a workplace romance between a boss and employee that Baucus tried to keep quiet, and apparently contradicting his explanation for why Hanes’s nomination was withdrawn.

Jodi Rave, a former reporter for the Missoulian revealed over the weekend that the paper informed Baucus in March that it was poised to publish a story about Hanes’s relationship with the senator and the fact that he had nominated her for the U.S. attorney job.

The next day, Hanes withdrew from consideration. According to the Missoulian, Baucus’s office never acknowledged a relationship between the two, and the paper did not run a story.

Baucus’s office said yesterday that while Baucus was aware of Rave’s questions, “there were a number of factors that went into Ms. Hanes’s decision to withdraw” from consideration for the U.S. attorney post, including that the couple’s relationship was “changing.”

“These discussions took place before, though around the same time as, the reporter’s inquiry,” Baucus’ office said in a statement. “This, coupled with the fact that they wanted to live together in Washington, led to her withdrawal.”

Baucus’ office also defended the salary boost for Hanes, saying it was in line with what his other staffers were receiving at the time, and argued that she played an important role on the international trip she took with Baucus.

Baucus separated from his now-ex-wife, Wanda, in March 2008 and moved out of their home. Hanes separated from her husband in April 2008 and moved out in early June. Hanes was divorced from her husband last December, and Baucus was divorced in April 2009. They are now living together on Capitol Hill and began dating in the summer of 2008. Hanes and other staff received their raises in this time period, according to public documents that show payroll breakdowns in six-month increments.

Baucus insists that Hanes was well-qualified for the prosecutor position, and his office released a lengthy résumé detailing her expertise as a prosecutor and in private practice.

Unlike many private corporations, there are no congressional rules barring a lawmaker from having a romantic liaison with an employee. In several cases, members have married staffers. For instance, Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) became involved with his wife when she was still his chief of staff. Former Rep. David Bonior (D-Mich.) first hired his wife, Judy, as a staffer and later married her.Former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) became involved with a House staffer when he was speaker of the House. He later divorced his second wife and married the staffer.